Gaea
Gaea is the former Goddess of Earth, the mother of the gods and the Faerfolc, and the current Tyrantess of the Underworld. She was slain by Kagetsu Aurelac de Maar Sul during the War of the Andain, which proved that gods could be killed if they manifested in the world in godflesh. Gaea's death made the other gods act more carefully, and they began using hosts when they wanted to interact with people so that they would not share her fate. Gaea's spirit has ended up in the Land of the Dead where she has been enslaved by Death who has turned her into his consort. She was recently believed to have been resurrected by the Mad Clergies in an attempt to bring some measure of hope back to the Land of the Living, but this ended up being false hope as the being who they brought back was actually someone else than Gaea. Biography Early Years Mother Creatrix Gaea was born from the darkness when everything was a Void and space was endless. Creation Myths give different accounts of what happened afterwards, but in the end it is believed that she created the oldest members of the Pantheon, thus beginning the god bloodline. Two of her eldest gods, Heath and Tiamat eventually formed a Trinity of Goddesses with her. According to some obscure Scun legends she might've even eaten undesirable offspring of hers such as Phil. She also created the stars and the Land of the Living which she populated with mortal races, and she helped imprison the eldritch beings of Light and Darkness so that those two primordial forces could not destroy what she had created. Gaea also built a city called Starholme in the High Plane which became her seat of power and home plane of the gods...although she actually had little authority over the other gods whose powers had grown as great as hers by then. She also created the Faerfolc and the Yggdrasil World Tree to act as the protectors of the Land of the Living, the main realm which was located at the very Crossroads of the entire Cosmos. Conflicts and Consequences At some point the Land of the Dead fell under attack by the Unnamed Evil, and the gods Mardük and Paedün asked for their brethren's help in aiding their brother Dreamweaver subdue the Evil in the grand conflict. Gaea alone was ready to answer the call while the rest of her children fought pettily against each other, but she couldn't leave the High Plane and the Land of the Living because without her guidance life might've been lost forever in those realms. Gaea's decision to protect the Land of the Living instead of aiding the Land of the Dead had a high price: Dreamweaver fell to the Evil and became Death, and Mardük was slowly being consumed by darkness within his heart, which would lead to many conflicts in eons to come. The threat of the Evil was forgotten for a time when Mardük's most powerful Andain son Kagetsu Aurelac de Maar Sul began the War of the Andain against the gods in order to bring prosperity to mortals and help create balance in power in the world between higher and lower beings. Gaea appeared in godflesh on the battlefield to prevent escalation and to convince Kagetsu to cease hostilities and thus spare lives, but instead Kagetsu slew her on the eve of the battle of the armies. Death and Afterlife Gaea's death was a shock to all the gods and even mortals. Her fall meant that the seemingly all-powerful gods could in fact be killed if they manifested in the world in their godflesh instead of using hosts, and it also made Kagetsu a serious threat that had to be dealt with. The war between the Dark Andain's forces and the gods' supporters lasted decades and would bring many other conflicts after it, including Mardük's descent to darkness, now that Gaea was no longer keeping watch over the world. However, Gaea's spirit wasn't lost forever. Once she had been slain by Kagetsu, her essence ended up in the Land of the Dead where she met with Death who turned out to be an entity which had been created when the Unnamed Evil had possessed her son Dreamweaver. Death took the goddess as his prisoner, slowly sucking the life out of her and turning her into one of his many minions while keeping her in chains. In time he named Gaea his consort, the Tyrantess of the Underworld. Godslayer Era Fool's Errand While her mind was briefly linked with the Land of the Dead during her mission in Etheril, the necromancer Deidra Finian saw a vision of the dead realm and of various shades, one of whom was none other than Gaea. The slain Goddess of the Earth had become one with the darkness and accused Deidra and the rest of the mortals for unleashing something beyond their control and that their actions would destroy the Land of the Living. The vision ended soon after and left the usually calm Deidra visibly shaken. Later, the fey Curdardh ended up trapped in the Land of the Dead while he was pursuing the Dresdens and ended up seeing Gaea whom he immediately recognized. Gaea lamented that all the worlds would fall into darkness eventually before Death silenced her and began twisting Curdardh into his minion while Gaea would do nothing but watch. Heart of Darkness Grim Reaper brought a group of Unseen and the shade of Thanatos Barca, an elven necromancer who had perished during the Battle of Illunii, to the city of Dis where they met with Gaea who had been expecting Thanatos's arrival. The necromancer's shade didn't recognize her, so she introduced herself to him and revealed that she had summoned him for a reason as he had a part to play in her plans. She questioned the Reaper why he hadn't brought Deidra Finian, another necromancer who had perished in Illunii, to the court, and the Reaper explained how difficult it had been to track her down due to her being stuck in the Void after her demise. Another shade addressed Gaea in a rather bold yet courteous manner at that moment. It was Belial de Ardyn who offered to assist Grim Reaper in the task of locating and capturing the shade of Deidra. Gaea, amused by Belial's boldness, allowed him to accompany the Reaper on this mission, remarking that the Crimson Warlock might be more useful to her cause dead than when he had been alive. Belial and the Reaper left on their mission while Gaea remained in the Land of the Dead with the rest of the Nightmare Court. Aliases and Nicknames ; Earth Mother : One of her titles. ; Goddess of the Earth : One of her titles. ; Tyrantess of Dis : Her title as the ruler of the city of Dis after Death made her his consort. Appearance A beautiful woman with the divine golden glow. After she fell under the shadow of Death, her eyes have taken a distinctly unholy, blue glow of undeath, and she is dressed in black robes to signify her status as the Tyrantess of the Underworld. Personality and Traits A benevolent figure who brought life with her to the Cosmos. She wanted to see the good in people, which is why she manifested in the flesh to try to talk Kagetsu to cease hostilities against the gods, a mistake for which she paid with her life. After she ended up as Death's consort, she has become colder yet more desperate, in agony about the destruction which spreads in the Land of the Living. Powers and Abilities She was powerful for a god, having created parts of the Cosmos, most notably the Land of the Living and Starholme. She also gave birth to the elder gods and created the Faerfolc in her image. Her powers haven't waned in the Land of the Dead although she has rarely used them because despair has taken root to her now black heart. Relationships Death Gaea has become Death's consort and just another extension of his will albeit with her personality still intact for the most part. She now serves Death as a wife and slave although she too holds some power over her new realm. Death sees Gaea as nothing but yet another pawn in his grand scheme. Kagetsu Aurelac Gaea saw Kagetsu as one of Mardük's greatest children and thus his betrayal came as a shock to her. When she tried to talk some sense into him, Kagetsu killed her much to her surprise. Since then her despair over Kagetsu has festered into hatred which now includes Kagetsu's kingdom Maar Sul. See also *Clergy of Gaea *Death *Faerfolc *Inari Okami *Kagetsu Aurelac de Maar Sul *Pantheon *Starholme *War of the Andain Category:Characters Category:Clergy of Gaea Category:First Age Category:Gods Category:Land of the Dead Category:Third Age